V 


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.•ry: ' 

A  SKETCH  OF  THE  CHEROKEE  PEOPLE  ON  THE 
INDIAN  RESERVATION  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 

ToTing 

./  / 


A  SKETCH  OP  THE  CHEROKEE  PEOPLE  ON  THE 
INDIAN  RESERVATION  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


By  Virginia  D.Young 


Woman's  Progress 
Jan, 1894 


J. 


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Collection  of  i^ortlj  Caroliniana 

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of  the  Class  of  1889 


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THE  CHEROKEE  PEOPLE.  169 


A  SKETCH  OF  THE  CHEROKEE  PEOPLE  ON  THE 
INDIAN  RESERVATION  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

In  that  part  of  Jackson  county,  reached  by  the  "  Murphy 
division  of  the  Richmond  and  Danville  Railroad  combination," 
reside  the  remnant  of  the  once  powerful  tribe  of  Cherokees.  In 
visiting  it  the  first  stage  of  our  journey  was  by  train  to  Whittier, 
the  scenery  becoming  wilder  and  grander  as  we  advanced  into  the 
heart  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  When  we  left  the  train  and  looked 
about  us,  on  one  side  of  the  little  station  appeared  a  great  bare 
hill,  at  whose  top  a  church  with  spire  and  shining  cross,  suggested 
Dieppe  and  the  fisherman's  shrine  to  St.  Jacques,  where  we 
landed  for  the  first  time  on  the  soil  of  La  Belle  France  !  The 
conveyance  awaiting  us  was  altogether  unique,  a  large  stout 
wagon,  with  excellent  springs  and  strong  brakes,  two  comfortable 
seats,  high  backed,  and  a  large  oilcloth  to  protect  us  from  sudden 
mountain  showers.  Our  driver  was  a  handsome  young  man,  whom 
we  presently  learned  was  from  Kansas,  and  now  engaged  in  teach- 
ing one  of  the  Indian  schools.  An  Indian  boy  sat  with  him, 
whom  he  introduced  to  us  as  "  Jungdau,"  or  Young  Deer.  The 
team  consisted  of  four  bay  horses,  each  bearing  a  cluster  of  bells, 
whose  incessant  tinkling  reminded  us  of  the  sound  of  the  bag-pipe 
in  the  daik  defiles  of  the  Trossachs,  among  which  we  had  traveled 
the  preceding  year.  Again  I  felt  the  wild  exhilaration  of  our  ride 
on  top  of  the  coach  from  Stronalacher  to  Aberfoyle,  as  we  looked 
on  dark  chasms  or  rushed  at  breakneck  speed  around  the  sides  of 
mountains  not  more  awe-inspiring  than  these  primeval  peaks, 
shooting  into  the  blue  heavens  above  us.  The  day  was  glorious, 
and  even  Scotland's  far-famed  "  Pass  of  Leny  "  did  not  exceed  in 
beauty  and  sublimity  these  rocky  steeps  and  foaming  cascades, 
•with  the  whir  of  the  bag-pipes  so  weirdly  reproduced  in  the  tink- 
ling bells  on  the  heads  of  the  hurrying  horses.  :• 

To  bring  tourists  into  this  land  of  heaven-kissing  heights,  it 
only  needs  some  poet  or  prose  writer,  fired  with  love  of  its  beauty 
to  endue  fair  stream  or  rocky  knoll  with  glamour  of  romance  and 
story,  as  Miss  Murfree  has  done  for  the  "  Great  Smoky  Mountains 
of  Tennessee,"  or  Miss  Magruder  for  Virginia.  Rough  as  \yas 
the  way  my  heart  was  so  full  of  the  joy  of  beholding  this  glorious 
handiwork  of  God,  that  I  never  feft  a  jolt,  though  my  husband 
much  concerned  at  our  rough  and  rapid  transit  kept  a  firm  hold  of 
me  lest  I  should  actually  be  thrown  from  my  seat  down  the  abysses 
of  rock,  by  which  our  road  so  perilously  ran. 

The  tourist  who  stops  in  Asheville,  under  the  notion  that  he  has 
reached  the  ultima  thule  of  mountain  scenery  in  this  "  Switzerland 
of  America  "  (it  had  better  be  called  the  Scotland),  makes  a  great 
mistake. 


I70  WOMAN'S  PROGRESS. 

Going  westward  he  finds  a  succession  of  picturesque  stopping 
places,  as  at  "  Balsam,"  and  "  Dillsboro,"  and  sweet  "  Sylva,"  where 
he  will  find  his  bodily  wants  provided  for,  while  he  feasts  his  eyes 
on — 

"  Crags,  and  knolls,  and  mounds,  confused  hurled. 
Like  broken  fragments  of  some  earlier  world." 

As  our  driver  deftly  flourished  his  whip  over  his  pretty  bays, 
without  touching  their  sleek  sides,  he  gave  us  much  information 
about  the  Indian  country. 

The  Reservation  embraces  70,000  acres,  the  bulk  of  it  wooded 
land,  admirably  adapted  to  sheep  and  cattle  pasturage.  In  the 
bleakest  of  winters  there  is  a  growth  on  the  mountain  tops,  on 
which  the  cattle  thrive.  Most  of  the  Indian  families  keep  cattle, 
chiefly  cows,  ponies  and  pigs.  There  are  not  many  deer  left,  but 
an  abundance  of  rabbits,  squirrels  and  birds.  There  is  also  good 
fishing  in  the  streams. 

There  are  not  more  than  twelve  hundred  and  thirty  Indians 
now  in  the  nation.  Some  of  them  live  on  grants  in  Swain  and 
Graham  counties,  and  a  goodly  number  in  Georgia,  numbering  in 
all,  this  side  of  the  Mississippi,  twenty-nine  hundred  and  fifty-six. 
The  nation  owns  the  land  in  common,  but  each  man  has  his  own  farm, 
on  which  he  pays  tax  to  the  native  authorities,  who  in  their  turn 
pay  tax  to  the  State. 

A  lofty  mountain,  which  overlooked  one  point  of  our  route 
was  "  Hobbs  Peak,"  named  after  the  first  white  man,  who  went  among 
the  Cherokees  as  a  teacher.  He  did  a  good  work  in  civilizing  the 
red  people. 

Scarcity  of  game  long  ago  drove  them  west  on  hunting  expe- 
ditions, but  it  was  not  until  1838  that  they  agreed  to  vacate  their 
lands  and  accept  for  them  others  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Many,  however,  declined  to  leave  the  soil,  to  which  they  clung  as 
the  Switzer  to  his  Alps,  and  staying,  they  were  compelled  to  work^ 
and  soon  began  to  farm.  They  now  raise  corn,  peas,  pumpkins  and 
some  tobacco,  but  not  as  much  as  formerly.  The  valleys  and  hill- 
sides of  the  reservation  produce  fine  wheat  and  corn.  The  latter 
is  their  staff  of  life,  which  they  prepare  in  many  appetizing  ways. 
Sometimes  they  parch  the  whole  grains  and  then  pound  it  into 
flour.  They  are  as  fond  of  hog-meat  as  white  folks,  and  have 
learned  to  cure  their  own  bacon. 

Basket-making  is  a  universal  art,  and  some  of  them  are  adepts 
in  moulding  and  ornamenting  pottery.  Their  black  vases,  beautifully 
carved,  were  much  like  some  Aztec  curios  we  saw  at  Florence  in 
Italy. 

This  Indian  country,  like  western  North  Carolina  generally,  is 
rich  in  hard-woods.  Chestnuts,  walnuts,  white  oaks,  tower  to 
immense  heights  in  the  glorious  solitude.  Indicating  the  distance 
from  the  road  to  the  river  below  (some  hundreds  of  feet)  an  Indian 
used  the  phrase  "  deep  as  a  tree,"  and  truth  to  tell,  the  top  of  one 
of  these  enormous  chestnuts,  growing  down  in  the  glen,  where  the 
river  rushed  along  its  rocky  bed,  was  just  parallel  with  our  road. 


THE  CHEROKEE  PEOPLE.  171 

We  passed  some  Indian  huts,  at  which  I  looked  curiously,  but 
could  discover  nothing  different  from  the  homes  of  poor  white  peo- 
ple. There  was  even  the  usual  tangle  of  sunflowers,  zinnias, 
dahlias  and  mornincr  glories. 

Our  driver  said  the  smooth  white  rocks  we  saw  cropping  up 
above  the  bed  of  the  river,  were  the  Indian  women's  "  washing 
stones,"  and  that  the  narrow  canoe  in  which  an  Indian  sat  fishing 
would  carry  a  thousand  pounds. 

Though  autumn  had  not  yet  fully  come  to  paint  the  woods, 
she  had  sent  a  courier  ahead,  to  sprinkle  red,  yellow  and  purple 
leaves  on  the  dogwood,  maple  and  gum.  The  burrs  on  the  chin- 
quapin bushes  were  bursting  and  the  sourwood  had  flowered  in 
veil-like  masses  of  infinitesimal  florets,  suggestive  of  spider  Avebs, 
A  tree  which  attracted  my  attention,  the  driver  told  me,  was  the 
"  cucumber  tree,"  whose  blood-red  cucumber-shaped  pods,  set  amid 
thick  foliage,  recalled  the  rozvan  tree  of  Scotch  thickets.  Wild 
flowers  rioted  in  this  domain  of  Nature,  mingling  their  varying- 
shades  of  pink,  violet  and  gold  in  every  rocky  crevice 

"  Far  o'er  the  illimitable  scene. 
The  briar  rose  fell  in  streamers  green. 
And  creeping  shrubs,  of  thousand  dyes, 
Waved  in  the  west  wind's  gentle  sighs." 

~  The  Indians  up  there  have,  like  their  white  neighbors,  exten- 
sive apple  orchards.  The  apples  are  of  greater  size  than  I  saw  else- 
where. They  are  not  ripe  till  frost  touches  them,  but,  gathered  after 
cold  weather  sets  in  and  stored  in  barn-lofts  among  the  hay,  they 
take  on  such  stores  of  sweetness  and  flavor  as  is  scarcely  to  be 
found  in  the  winter-keeping  apples  of  any  other  region.  I  speak 
from  experience,  as  our  friends  at  Waynesville,  next  door  neighbors 
to  the  Indians,  sent  us  a  barrel  of  most  delicious  ones  last  winter. 

And  now^e  came  to  a  historic  region,  for  here  was  a  tall,  old 
block  house,  where  in  former  days  the  warriors  came  to  exchange 
their  peltries  for  beads  and  blankets^  bacon,  tobacco,  and,  alas,  fire- 
water. Its  heavy  squared  timbers  and  small  loopholed  windows 
were  reminders  of  Indian  war  times,  of  the  Colonial  period,  and  led 
our  driver  into  stories  of  the  late  war,  when  cannon  were  planted 
on  a  commanding  hill  "  to  keep  the  Indians  loyal."  Two  regiments 
of  Cherokees  fought  in  our  Southern  army  and  others  followed  the 
flag  of  the  Union. 

The  tavern,  or  its  ruins  rather,  is  in  a  stone's  throw  of  the 
commission  house,  where  white  traders  of  a  bygone  age  got  lodg- 
ings, and  in  spite  of  sagged  roof  and  crumbling  walls  it  is  inhabited 
still. 

The  "Indian  Training  School  of  the  Cherokees  "  comprises  a 
number  of  buildings  situated  on  a  green  plateau,  about  which  winds 
the  bright  current  of  the  river,  called  in  their  musical  tongue 
"  Oconee-Loughky."  This  school  is  kept  up  on  an  appropriation 
from  Congress,  originally  intended  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the 
Cherokees    to  the  West,  but  those  who   declined    to    go    applied,. 


172  WOMAN'S   PROGRESS. 

through  the  member  of  Congress  from  that  district,  for  a  certain 
proportion  of  the  fund  to  be  used  in  schooHng  their  youth.  At  the 
time  of  our  visit,  Captain  and  Mrs.  Spray  were  in  charge  and  made 
it  very  pleasant  for  us.  In  the  main  building,  where  we  were  enter- 
tained, the  superintendent  and  teachers  all  resided,  except  the  "  lady 
doctor,"  who,  we  were  told,  had  greatly  recommended  herself  to 
the  Indians  by  successfully  setting  broken  bones  and  healing  wounds. 
The  girl  pupils  also  reside  in  the  main  building,  while  the  boys 
occupy  a  separate  house  in  the  grounds.  It  was  vacation  time,  but 
at  the  sound  of  the  bell  the  whole  army  of  scholars  came  marching 
into  the  dining-room  in  an  orderly  manner,  and  behaved  in  a  per- 
fectly civilized  way  during  the  meal.  Some  of  the  Indian,  girls 
waited  on  table  and  afterward  washed  up  the  dishes  and  reset  the 
tables.  These  girls  were  taught  to  sew,  mend,  darn  and  use  sew- 
ing machines.  They  were  also  instructed  in  laundry  work  and 
cookery,  and  turned  out  such  accomplished  mistresses  of  these  arts 
that  the  demand  for  them  as  house  servants  at  Asheville  and  other 
neighboring  towns,  cognizant  of  their  skill,  could  not  be  supplied. 

Mrs.  Spray  showed  me  the  "  school-room,"  on  the  walls  of 
which  were  numerous  pictures,  illustrative  of  Bible  scenes,  and  the 
room  was  furnished  with  an  organ  and  reading  desk,  at  which  one 
of  the  teachers  presided  at  night  and  early  morn  for  prayers  and 
reading  of  the  Scriptures. 

The  Indians  show  a  sensibility  to  music,  and  the  performances 
of  the  "  Indian  Brass  Band  "  were  right  often  requested,  they  told 
us,  at  Waynesville  and  other  towns.  I  remember  being  struck  with 
the  novelty  of  their  "  band  stand"  in  a  tree.  It  was  a  huge  mul- 
berry tree,  whose  limbs  had  been  so  cut  and  twisted  as  to  form  a 
natural  pavilion,  with  a  trellis  work  floor  and  rustic  easels  to  hold 
music.  The  band  ascended  to  their  eyrie  by  a  stairway  built  of 
branches,  retaining  their  natural  bark.  The  performers  were  boys 
from  ten  to  seventeen  years  old,  and  played  creditably  such  airs 
as  "  Dixie,"  "  Yankee  Doodle  "  and  "  Way  Down  Upon  the  Suwa- 
nee  River." 

Everything  about  the  premises  indicated  thrift  and  discipline. 
There  was  a  farm  attached  to  the  school,  and  on  this  good  crops 
of  corn  and  peas  were  growing,  while  vegetables  were  raised  in 
abundance  for  the  school  and  some  to  sell.  They  also  sold  fine 
butter  and  honey. 

In  the  main  building  was  a  reception  room,  where  an  upright 
piano,  books,  pictures  and  easy  chairs  gave  an  impression  of  refine- 
ment. The  bedroom  we  occupied  was  daintily  neat.  Our  dinner 
of  nicely  prepared  chicken,  beef,  fruit,  jelly,  preserves,  milk,  butter 
and  lightbread,  was  served  on  china  and  damask.  When  we 
returned  to  the  rose- wreathed  porch  after  dinner,  we  found  the  mail 
had  been  brought,  and  the  first  thing  that  met  our  eyes  was  the 
September  number  of  Harper's  Magazine  which  had  not  yet  come 
to  hand  when  we  left  Waynesville,  so  much  nearer  civilization. 
The  postoffice,  "  Cherokee,"  is  close  to  "  Yellow  Hill,"  the  site  of 
the  Trainincr  School. 


THE  CHEROKEE  PEOPLE.  173 

We  were  glad  to  accept  an  invitation  from  "Chief  Smith  "  to 
visit  him  at  his  home  in  the  vicinity  of  the  school.  He  came  to  his 
gate  to  meet  us,  with  a  majesty  of  mien  well  suited  to  the  leading 
man  of  his  tribe.  His  eagie  outline  of  feature  looked  as  if  it  could 
readily  adapt  itself  to  a  tiara  of  feathers,  while  his  still  upright  form 
testified  to  a  vigorous  old  age.  He  offered  us  water  from  a  pump 
close  at  hand,  of  his  own  invention,  rustic  but  effective.  He  told 
us  he  had  "  built  an  aqueduct  of  hollowed  logs,  by  means  of  which 
he  had  brought  the  clear  cold  water  to  his  door  from  a  spring  a 
mile  distant." 

At  an  election  held  some  time  before  he  had  been  superseded 
by  "  Stillwell  Sononka."  The  government  is  vested  in  a  council, 
of  which  the  chief  is  head. 

The  news  of  our  arri\al  must  have  quickly  spread  for  numbers 
came  to  see  the  "  Unaka,"  as  they  call  the  whites.  Some  of  the 
women  had  their  babies  at  their  backs,  in  regular  papoose  fashion, 
and  one  very  aged  woman  named  Catalsta,  carried  a  large  net 
fastened  around  her  head  in  which  were  a  quantity  of  baskets. 
This  woman's  teeth  were  sound  and  white,  though  she  was  eighty 
years  old.  The  voices  of  all  the  Indian  women  were  soft  and  sibi- 
lant, and  to  me  had  a  peculiarly  soothing  tone. 

I  was  siruck  with  the  small  size  of  these  people,  which  the 
superintendent  said  was  owing  to  the  excessive  use  of  tobacco  and 
whiskey.     He  said  consumption  is  "  very  prevalent  among  them." 

Some  of  the  children  of  the  Training  School  were  little  tots, 
but  they  never  cried  though  in  their  play  they  often  got  right  hard 
falls  and  this  same  stoical  quality  we  noticed  in  the  babies  brought 
by  their  mothers.  I  learned  the  names  of  some  of  the  children, 
which  seemed  to  be  a  combination  of  English  and  Indian  names,  as 
for  instance,  Ollie  Larch,  Annie  Liddie,  Catolsta,  Chickalillie,  Tasus- 
kie,  Whargolah,  Dinah  Hornbuckle.  Some  of  the  boys'  names  w^ere 
Ned  Wilnotie,  Saquallie,  Goliath  Rigjim,  Dinola,  Jesseau,  Julius 
Youngduck. 

I  thought  there  was  a  decided  resemblance  in  these  people  to 
the  Japanese,  only  the  color  of  the  Indians  is  a  darker  yellow, 
except  among  the  half-breeds.  The  twinkle  of  their  small  black 
eyes  indicate  a  decided  sense  of  humor,  though  I  have  heard  it  said 
the  Indians  have  none.  But  there  is  always  a  gurgle  of  laughter 
going  on  when  they  talk  among  themselves. 

The  inspiration  of  this  school  is  a  woman,  Mrs.  Spray.  She  is 
a  strong  believer  in  woman  suffrage,  and  has  instilled  her  belief 
into  the  Indian  girls  under  her  care.  She  is  the  mother  and  real 
head,  looked  up  to  and  beloved  by  the  whole  school  and  nation,  the 
motive  power  by  which  she  rules  being  love.  It  is  her  house- 
wifely skill  which  has  made  refinement  and  neatness  and  system, 
characteristic  of  this  home  in  the  wilderness.  She  show^ed  me  the 
sewing-room  where  a  half-dozen  girls  were  at  work  under  a  director, 
some  cutting  out  garments  for  the  scholars,  some  basting,  and  two 
or  three  running  sewing-machines.  On  shelves  in  the  room  were 
rolls  of  cloth  awaiting  the  scissors. 


174  WOMAN'S  PROGRESS. 

The  clean  clothes  were  just  brought  in  from  the  laundry,  also 
run  by  Indian  girls,  and  they  were  sorting,  mending  and  darning 
with  the  precision  of  veterans. 

I  also  was  taken  to  inspect  the  kitchen,  in  which  the  long 
ranges  and  cooking  vessels  fairly  shone  with  their  hard  scrubbing. 
Near  the  back  of  the  kitchen  was  a  large  sheltered  entry,  and  in  the 
midst  of  it  a  wide  trough-like  receptacle,  underneath  which  a 
stream  of  water  had  been  forced  to  run  in  a  pipe.  In  this  original 
kind  of  refrigerator,  were  placed  bowls  of  milk  and  butter,  the  latter 
in  quantities  sufficing  for  the  use  of  the  school  and  an  overplus  to  sell. 
Stored  away  in  another  cool  place  was  a  tempting  assortment  of 
preserves  and  jellies  and  jams.  A  batch  of  girls  were  peeling  fruit  to 
fill  a  porcelain  lined  kettle  for  preserving  and  to  dry.  The  girls 
trained  by  Mrs.  Spray  have  a  reputation  for  skill  and  housewifery, 
and  are  much  sought  after  in  the  neighboring  towns.  Mrs.  Spray 
interests  herself  in  getting  them  good  places. 

Fairfax,  S.  C.  Virginia  Duraxt  Young. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 

-^        illlllllilililliilil 
00032204221 

FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


•^ 


,  ^^1 


